I Made It Home Last Night and I Only Drove Into One Ditch!
Last night, I went out with my good friends @superinvisible and @captcryptoswife to a yummy Mexican restaurant in our town. We ended up talking about life and everything else for a while at the restaurant and then heading to a house for dessert to finish out the night.
Tortilla soup, chips and hot sauce, liquado (blended pineapple and water)
The roads here in Panama are mostly pretty horrible. You will find huge potholes, dirt roads, ditches on the edge - not the most fun to drive on. Well the road to my friend's house is that way - lots of bumps!
As we were leaving to head home at 10:00 at night, we made it about a mile from the house and all the sudden, we realized that we were slowly drifting into the ditch. I remember saying, "What on earth happened?" Maybe I was avoiding a pothole and caught the edge of the ditch and just kind of slid in, or maybe I hit a smooth rock on the side of the road. I'm not exactly sure. All I know is we ended up with the tires on the right side of the road in the ditch, car tilted sideways and left tires on the road.
So both times I've needed to put the car in 4 wheel drive, I've had @superinvisible in the car with me. Does that mean something? I did what I thought I needed to do to put the car into 4WD to get out, but I actually did not do it correctly. I pushed the gas to go forward and turned the wheel, but nothing happened. We did not escape the ditch! So I sent some messages to @captcryptoswife to come rescue us and her husband was gathering chains to come pull us out.
I came up with the idea to put rocks in front of the car, drive up on them and then get out. We were loading the ditch with rocks when two people suddenly appeared on the very dark street and we are trying to decide if we should get in the car and wait or grab rocks and keep going. The couple came walking up and there was a guy who looked about 18 and possibly his mom. He came up to me, after they walked past, and said, "If you want me to get it out, I can get it out for you." I responded with, "Ummmmmm...You can get it out?" He said, "Yes, I can get it out if you want." Reluctantly I told him okay and started silently (maybe not so silently) freaking out and praying.
He actually put the car in 4WD (this is also the second time I've had to have someone put it in 4WD for me - need to learn how to use this feature on my own) and started backing up! I'm thinking this is not working, but he kept going. Then he turned and blocked the road - he did it!! We started jumping up and down and ran to the car, thanked him and let @captcryptoswife know we were out! Praise the Lord!!
When I got back in the car, I realized the 4WD was still on and I don't know how to turn it off!! So when I drove up the road and met up with @superinvisible 's husband, who was coming to rescue us from the other direction, I asked him to help. He tried, but it wasn't working. The guy who got me out of the ditch then caught up and I asked him and he worked a bit and got it turned off. Wahoo!
I was grateful to drive home with all four wheels on the road and tell my husband, @panamapilgrim, about it. I had not told him before because I had the only car, so he could not have come even if I had called. Although, he could have told me how to put it in 4WD, now that I think about it. His face was a little shocked when I told him I let some other guy drive the car to get me out of the ditch, but thankfully all of that ended up on a good note!
Last night, I was grateful for expat friends, good food, great pie, a friendly and helpful Panamanian, 4WD, and the fact that everything ended well!
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#gratefulvibes created by @paradise-found
Pics thanks to @superinvisible
Wow, quite the adventure! Glad everything worked out for you! The roads sound crazy there!
They are crazy. It's a big deal for our neighborhood because we live on a paved road off of a paved road off of the main paved road! :) Most people have crazy rock/dirt Panamanian roads - bumpy and full of holes - huge holes. Yes, I had visions of the car turning on it side at points, so I'm very glad everything ended up okay! :)
Wow, I bet you were not expecting that adventure! I could imagine that feeling of sliding off the road, it would be pretty awful. I'm grateful that a good man came to the rescue and was able to get the vehicle back on the road. I bet 4WD is almost a requirement down there in Panama. Just gotta learn how to use it. :-)
Glad you are safe and home. A lot to be grateful for. @ironshield
Yes, much to be grateful for! :) Yes, 4WD was a requirement when buying a car. We looked at some vehicles that might be better for our size family, but decided on this one because it had 4WD and the others did not. If you're going on the bumpy, dirt roads, you need it and they're pretty much everywhere. Some are even dirt roads uphill in the rainy season. Yikes!!
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Glad you made it through to the other side, and that dish looks absolutely yummy!!
Yes! Glad we both, and the car survived! I had tortilla soup and it really was yummy! I will definitely have it again!! Thanks for the comment.
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I love adventures!! Especially ones that end well!!
Thank you @apanamamama for joining the #gratefulvibes challenge!!
:) Yes, the ones that end well are the only kind of adventures I like to have! There are a few ways this one could have gone, but thankfully all is well. :) Thanks!!
Mexican food is always an adventure, that's why I love it so much. Spice, flavour, fun, thrills, tequila, spills...
Do you blame it on a food coma, or was it tequila? ;P
Fortunate a good Samaritan came your way, one who knows how to lock the hubs on a 4WD.
Well, there was no tequila involved. No tomo. Lol. Had the good Samaritan not ventured our way, my friend's husband was on his way and surely he would know how to put it into 4WD. Maybe I should have some lessons in driving in 4WD today. ;)
You never know, you may find that you love 4WD'ing. Some places have 4WD obstacle and adventure trails, other places are 4WD obstacle and adventure trails, sounds like Panama might be the latter.
And some day, you may get to pay the act forward.
Yes Panama definitely is a 4WD obstacle course for the most part! Lol.
Adventure awaits thee... ;)
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